My Mac Mini Experience So Far...

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Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini 1.58 - 60 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive - 1 GB PC3200 & 1.33 Ghz 12" iBook w/ 80 GB 7200 RPM HD
Well...after reading til I was just about sick about these things...I took the plunge this last weekend and ordered a Mac Mini 1.25 w/Bluetooth. Unfortunately my utter lack of patience got to me and I just couldn't wait to start playing with one...so...I high tailed it to the nearest Apple store today here in Houston and purchased a stock Mini 1.25 onsite. On the way home stopped by Fry's, picked up a 1 Gig stick of PC3200 and one of the Hitachi 60GB 7200 RPM drives. Got home...grabbed my favorite plastic spatula and had the thing open in about 5 seconds (without stress I might add, and no marks or broken tabs either...heck...to listen to some of these peeps talk around here you'd think opening one of these things is more difficult than developing a vaccine for AIDS or something...it was cheese easy!)...popped out the old RAM...removed the drive cage...took out the fan...removed the old Hard drive and installed the new one...put the fan back on and reinstalled the drive cage...and had the dang thing completely put back together...did I mention this was all done in under ten minutes? So...if you're a hard core tinkerer, overclocker, PC builder, techie, complete nerd, or whatever you want to call yourself and you're thinking that upgrading the mini is difficult...well, let me put your fears to rest...it's a no-brainer! Mine's upstairs right this second getting OS X installed on it.

This is my first mac....and so far so good. I'll be doing the Overclock bit on it soon (I'm only going to go to 1.42)...I'll keep you all posted!

Quick question though...what's the best way to get a Win2K user moved over to a MAC? Are there any wizards or tools that automate some of the workk that needs to be done...or is it just a by-hand thing? TIA
 
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I never thought about a spatula. I used a metal putty knife like I had seen heard other people were using, mine got scratched a bit but I'll live. How much did you pay for your new HD?
 
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M
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Mac Mini 1.58 - 60 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive - 1 GB PC3200 & 1.33 Ghz 12" iBook w/ 80 GB 7200 RPM HD
Too much unfortunately (I think it was ~$170)...but hey...you just can't beat that instant gratification thing! :)

It finished installing OS X just a minute ago...and then as soon as it got started...it started downloading the available updates. Oh well...I guess I'll get to actually play with it sometime tonight! :)
 
K

kingcrowing2

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Well, to migrate from windows, as far as i know, you kinda just have to move all of your files by hand, i'd burn a CD with all your important stuff, just so you have a back up, then just put it all on the mini
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini 1.58 - 60 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive - 1 GB PC3200 & 1.33 Ghz 12" iBook w/ 80 GB 7200 RPM HD
Well...for what it's worth. I'm typing this from my new Mac Mini! I'm using Camino...mainly because I'm so used to Firefox and figured it would ease some of my transition pains. So far so good. I'm just getting started and being a complete and total Mac newbie...I'm enjoying the Mac experience so far. What a concept! This ease of program installation...drag...drop...use. Whodathunkit! So far I feel like the little Mini with the 1 Gig of RAM and 7200 RPM HD is pretty snappy...haven't felt held back yet...but I haven't been able to do a whole bunch yet either!
 
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Location
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Your Mac's Specs
13" Macbook Pro 2.26Ghz Unibody 4G RAM 160G HDD Superdrive
I recently switched from Linux/Windows to a Mini. Copying all of my stuff was pretty much a matter of bringing up the old (Linux) machine and enabling the samba share. Then using the 'Connect to server' from Finder's GO menu entering the smb://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX notation and it found the shares I have set up there, then map it to the desktop after authenticating. A few drag 'n drops later all of it is in my /Users folder.

Most of my data is pretty OS/Hardware generic as I suspect is most of yours. Music files (wav and mp3's), videos (quicktime, mpeg, and wmv) pictures in all the formats (including Photoshop) and documents in word or OpenOffice formats. A lot of data I had on the linux machine included Linux specific (or windows specific) install blobs which don't make any sense on a Mac. All the other stuff is but a drag/drop away once connected.

The only user data I haven't been able to move over to my new Mac is the data on my Palm Pilot. I have a Palm IIIxe which uses a serial connector for the HotSynch cradle. This is a connector which the Mac Mini obviously doesn't have, nor an IRDA port. So I got a Belkin Serial to USB adapter which I found when I got home only had drivers for Windows of every kind and MacOS 8.x and 9.X. No MacOS X. It didn't work and I was unhappy with it to say the least. It doesn't look like anything that does serial to USB (including PalmOne's own adapter) supports anything other than MacOS 9.X, and it's dubious as to whether that works at all as well. I do know that nothing I did made my Mac able to communicate with my Palm. Looks like I'm going to have to upgrade my Palm to a newer thing which works with USB, which isn't such a bad thing since I'm about due for an upgrade but still it would be nice if that USB "Just works" idea actually did, but it doesn't. The money I spent on that piece of crap Belkin that I returned will go toward a new Palm device that works with USB right out of the box.

Other than that my Mac experience has been a good one.
 
M

money69

Guest
I am a recent switch from Windows also, I originally started looking at a mac mini based upon the price for my new office. I was debating about buying Dell's for about the same price range and decided I would give a mac a chance. I bought a stock 1.42 model with the 80gig HD and ordered from a company up in the north because I didnt feel like waiting for the delay ordering from apple. Anyway, when I got the unit I only got three beeps from the unit and took it down to the apple store here in Houston and they told me the ram I had upgraded to 512MB was bad. So I called the company and told them I was sending the ram back and wanted a refund for it and ended up buying a 512MB stick for the unit from the apple store. I didnt want tø bother buying one and then trying to open the unit and I thought the price was fair. I have since also purchased a ipod mini, one of the new 4 gig ones with the longer battery life. I am also planning on buying another mac mini or office use as well and I successfully networked file and print sharing between my mac mini here and my windows machine. I wish I could fully migrate over to mac but unfortunately I need to find some mortgage brokers software real estate form software for mac and I have not been able to find any. If anyone knows of any I would appreciate any info, otherwise, I am really enjoying my mini and really dont miss my windows machine 1 bit.
 
F

falltime

Guest
mcsenerd said:
Well...after reading til I was just about sick about these things...I took the plunge this last weekend and ordered a Mac Mini 1.25 w/Bluetooth. Unfortunately my utter lack of patience got to me and I just couldn't wait to start playing with one...so...I high tailed it to the nearest Apple store today here in Houston and purchased a stock Mini 1.25 onsite. On the way home stopped by Fry's, picked up a 1 Gig stick of PC3200 and one of the Hitachi 60GB 7200 RPM drives. Got home...grabbed my favorite plastic spatula and had the thing open in about 5 seconds (without stress I might add, and no marks or broken tabs either...heck...to listen to some of these peeps talk around here you'd think opening one of these things is more difficult than developing a vaccine for AIDS or something...it was cheese easy!)...popped out the old RAM...removed the drive cage...took out the fan...removed the old Hard drive and installed the new one...put the fan back on and reinstalled the drive cage...and had the dang thing completely put back together...did I mention this was all done in under ten minutes? So...if you're a hard core tinkerer, overclocker, PC builder, techie, complete nerd, or whatever you want to call yourself and you're thinking that upgrading the mini is difficult...well, let me put your fears to rest...it's a no-brainer! Mine's upstairs right this second getting OS X installed on it.

This is my first mac....and so far so good. I'll be doing the Overclock bit on it soon (I'm only going to go to 1.42)...I'll keep you all posted!

Quick question though...what's the best way to get a Win2K user moved over to a MAC? Are there any wizards or tools that automate some of the workk that needs to be done...or is it just a by-hand thing? TIA

Overclocking huh?

I wish you luck, we've successfully OC'd about 11 of them, and broke 1 so far :closed:.

Also, recent speculation proposes there is absolutely no architectural difference between the 1.25GHz Mac Mini model and the 1.42GHz model. The only difference is that Apple just used a different PLL_CFG pin resistor configuration to increase the CPU multiplier - something that you could very easily do yourself.

If you aren't skilled at desoldering, I suggest you find someone who is. The resistors are EXTREMELY small, and you will definitely need a good magnifying glass and a steady hand. Despite what’s being said, most of the people that take their Minis to 1.58 don't have any trouble with the Altivec routines. All 11 of the of the stock 1.25GHz Minis we had have been successfully brought up to 1.58GHz with no problems.

There is no need to resolder/solder any of the MicroSMD resistors (Thank god!) because they are set to Zero Ohm anyways (essentially making them jumpers :mad: ), so all you need to do is bridge the pads with solder.

Believe me its well worth it, you WILL notice the speed difference.

ASP (Apple System Profiler) will report your 1.58GHz G4 at 750MHz, not because there is something wrong with the chipset/proc, but because ASP is inherently flawed and actually quite stupid. It rates processors based on a code lifted to it at system start up - it locates the code in a table of predetermined G4 specs, and just displays the string in ASP. If it receives an unknown code (there is no such thing 1.58GHz G4 at the moment) it defaults to 750MHz. But you can actually edit the table yourself with Interface Editor in Developer Tools to get ASP to properly display the correct speed.

Also, if you want be on the safe side, go ahead and throw some AS5 or Ceramique on the CPU to keep it extra cool. I actually haven't done it on any of our Minis - and the Motorola G4 is spec'd to be able to run at 100 C..... but if you are one of those extra cautious types, feel free to throw some on, its not hard.
 
OP
M
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
190
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Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini 1.58 - 60 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive - 1 GB PC3200 & 1.33 Ghz 12" iBook w/ 80 GB 7200 RPM HD
Thanks for the advice...I'll keep that in mind. I fully realize that when doing things such as overclocking a system that you are taking chances. I'm sitting here looking at an old GeForce 3 Ti 200 that had a little OC'ing accident a long time ago. I just like to push things...ask my parents or my wife...they'll be happy to agree. I just have this nuts desire to tinker...I don't know why...I've always been that way. I just couldn't be happy with my toys when I was a child even...I had to take them apart and try to do other things with them as well. I'm not one of these peeps that's gonna cry and moan if something doesn't go according to plan. The way I see it...you've got to be willing to take the risk that you will totally hose up something every once in while...and if you can't stomach the thought of that happening...don't do it!

Yeah...I think I'm going to remove the resistors with a hot pair of tweezers...I've done some similar work like that before and it worked well for me then...so I think that's the way I'll go. I'll give the 1.58 a shot...It's not like you can't go back so long as you keep the thing cool...in all my years I can honestly say...I've never fried a CPU due to heat. Of course...I usually take great care in the area of cooling so I'm sure that's saved my bacon on a great number of occasions. I'll likely give it a shot this weekend and I'll let you all know how it turns out.
 
C

Cheaha

Guest
Mcsenerd,
A hot pair of tweezers..what a great idea! I never though of doing that before.
 

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